Xavier Grau

Xavier Grau - S.&.C. IV

Artist Biography: Xavier Grau (Barcelona, 1951 - 2020) promoted, together with Broto, Gonzalo Tena and Javier Rubio, one of the strong points of the Spanish plastic debate during the seventies. Within the framework of that exhibition, these artists presented the zero number of the magazine Trama, which became the programmatic manifesto of a new artistic conception that opted for the pictorial practice as an autonomous exercise. Grau inherited the distinctive character of abstract expressionism, a source of expressive force and emotional power. Closely linked to the manifestations of the New York School, and in particular to De Kooning, Gorky and Guston, Grau's painting deviates towards an abstraction that maintains unaltered the internal tension between color and drawing, without reducing its chromatic vivacity or the movement of its surfaces, which are contained by the rhythm of the forms that articulate its internal structure. His work is part of museums and public collections such as the Los Bragales Collection (Santander), "La Caixa" Contemporary Art Collection (Barcelona), MACBA Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (Barcelona) or MNCARS Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofía (Madrid).

 

Xavier Grau (Barcelona, Spain, 1951) promoted alongside Broto, Gonzalo Tena and Javier Rubio one of the main debates about Spanish art in the seventies. These artists introduced the first edition of the Trama magazine, which became an art manifesto that claimed the painting as an autonomous exercise. Grau inherits the distinctive character of abstract expressionism, a source of both expressive and emotional power. Strongly related to the New York Art School, and particularly to De Kooning, Gorky and Guston, Grau's painting changes for an abstraction that keeps the internal tension between color and drawing, by avoiding the reduction of color and its surface movement. His work forms part of museums and public collections such as 'Coleccin Los Bragales' (Santander, Spain), 'Coleccin de Arte Contemporneo ";La Caixa"' (Barcelona, Spain), 'MACBA Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (Barcelona) or 'MNCARS Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofa' (Madrid, Spain). Xavier Grau (Barcelona, 1951), together with Broto, Gonzalo Tena and Javier Rubio, was one of the strong points of the Spanish plastic art debate during the seventies. Within the framework of that exhibition, these artists presented issue number zero of the magazine Trama, which became the programmatic manifesto of a new artistic conception that opted for the pictorial practice as an autonomous exercise. Grau inherited the distinctive character of abstract expressionism, a source of expressive force and emotional power. Closely linked to the manifestations of the New York School, and in particular to De Kooning, Gorky and Guston, Grau's painting drifts towards an abstraction that maintains unaltered the internal tension between color and drawing, without reducing its chromatic vivacity or the movement of its surfaces, which are contained by the rhythm of the forms that articulate its internal structure. His work is part of museums and public collections such as the Los Bragales Collection (Santander), Contemporary Art Collection ";La Caixa" (Barcelona), MACBA Museu d'Art Contemporani de Barcelona (Barcelona) or MNCARS Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofa (Madrid).